Alice Lilan Bowden (born September 1, 1985) is an American actress, filmmaker, and comedian. She is best known for her roles as Rebecca "Bex" Mack in ''

Andi Mack ''Andi Mack'' is an American family comedy-drama television series created by Terri Minsky that premiered on Disney Channel on April 7, 2017. It ran for three seasons and 57 episodes, concluding on July 26, 2019. The series stars Peyton Elizabet ...

'' and Amber Kang in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

series '' Murderville''.

Life and career

Lilan Bowden was born to a Taiwanese mother and white father. She attended

Castro Valley High School Castro Valley High School is located in the unincorporated suburban community of Castro Valley, California, United States. It is a State school#United States high school for grades 9 to 12. Named a National Exemplary School in 1984–85 and 1988� ...

where she had joined an improv club and graduated in 2002. Bowden attended

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...

where she continued to perform in comedy. After graduating, she moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and joined the

Upright Citizens Brigade The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Adam McKay, ...

. She also began writing videos with her writing partner Wilder Smith, featured on ''

Funny or Die Funny or Die is a comedy video website and film/television production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a re ...

'' during this time. Bowden began auditioning for roles which was made difficult due to her mixed race heritage. "The roles you get as a minority usually cluster in certain category...I felt like every year I was going out and testing for at least one pilot where I was the sassy, ethnic best friend...I still think that we have a lot of work to do as far as entertaining someone who’s not white for the lead role of TV shows." She suddenly auditioned for the show ''

'' and got the role of Bex, the single young mother of the title character. "I feel like I hit the jackpot!...It’s so exciting to be a part of a female dominant cast that is an Asian American family and doesn’t fit the model minority." She added that she finds the positive message of the show enticing and feels that she earned the role through perseverance. Bowden is set to direct upcoming film ''Becoming Eddie''. In 2022, Bowden joined current and past Disney employees who criticized

Bob Chapek Robert Alan Chapek (born 1960) is an American media executive who was the chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company from 2020 to 2022. Before becoming CEO, Chapek had a 26-year career with The Walt Disney Company, beginning in th ...

for refusing to criticize anti-LGBT legislation that was passed in Florida. Bowden came out bisexual on Twitter in March 2022. She is also a member of the

Democratic Socialists of America The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing Democratic Socialists of America#Tendencies within the DSA, multi-tendency Socialism, socialist and Labour movement, labor-oriented political organization. Its roots ...

and endorsed

Eunisses Hernandez Eunisses Hernandez (born 1990) is an American activist and politician, currently serving as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 1st district since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, Herna ...

and

Hugo Soto-Martinez Hugo Soto-Martinez is an American labor organizer and politician, currently serving as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 13th district since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, Soto-Mar ...

during the

2022 Los Angeles elections The 2022 Los Angeles elections were held on June 7, 2022. Voters elected candidates in a nonpartisan primary, with runoff elections scheduled for November 8, 2022. Eight of the fifteen seats in the City Council were up for election while three ...

Filmography

Filmmaking credits

*''Becoming Eddie'' (2020)

Film

Television

Web

References

External links

*
Lilan and Wilder website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowden, Lilan Living people 1985 births 21st-century American comedians American actresses of Taiwanese descent American comedy writers American film actresses American sketch comedians American television actresses American women comedians American women film directors Comedians from California Members of the Democratic Socialists of America University of California, Irvine alumni 21st-century American actresses bisexual actresses